The next morning
Azriel's lair
Nerissa opened the door to the main lounge, she saw Jaya sitting on one of the couches. Sitting on the other couch was his brother, Reiko. They both glanced over at her as she entered, but Nerissa walked over and sat next to Jaya. "Hi, JJ. How are you this morning?" She asked him happily as she brushed some loose strands of hair off her legs. Reiko watched the conversation with an almost bored expression on his face.
"I'm fine, thank you. How are you?" Jaya responded with a normal tone as Nerissa sat down next to him and folded her hands on her lap.
"I'm lovely this morning!" Nerissa responded with a warm smile, even though she was lying. She wasn't feeling very good, her last time seeing Nate was still weighing on her mind, even if she didn't want to admit it. She wondered why those thugs were trying to kill him before she quickly dismissed the thought, coming to the conclusion that Nate had probably said something to piss them off. That wouldn't exactly be off brand for him. She shook her head before turning to face Reiko on the other couch. "How are you, Reiko?" She asked him happily, Reiko looked slightly surprised for a split second before it faded.
"Why do you care?" Reiko answered in a slightly cold tone as he looked at Nerissa with a blank gaze. Nerissa heard Jaya sigh softly.
"There's no need to be so grumpy, Rei-Rei. I asked because I'm curious, that's all." Nerissa said with a chirpy lilt in her tone before Reiko's hard gaze made her take pause.
"My name...is Reiko. And if you must know, I'm particularly excited. Azzy has given me a job to do that I'm rather eager for." Reiko said with a sly smile that sent a chill down Nerissa's spine, even if she wouldn't admit it. Jaya had explained his brothers Gift to her and it was...unsettling, to say the least.
"Oh, well...I'm sure you'll do great!" Nerissa added in a fake cheery tone and added a small smile.
Reiko smiled again as he stood up to leave the room, presumably to go on his mission, "Oh, I will."
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Later that day, Nyx walked down the hall casually with her eyes looking down. She could feel the eyes of other agents stabbing into her as they passed her in the hall. She wasn't expecting the constant stares to make her feel so isolated, just like she felt at her high school. Some things never change.
Nyx opened the door to her mother's office and saw Kyle was already standing at her desk, they both looked at Nyx as she entered. "Thank you for being here so quickly." Elizabeth started as Nyx walked up to her desk. "I called you here because something unsettling has started happening in the city earlier this morning." Elizabeth typed on her keyboard and the screen of light appeared in front of Nyx and Kyle. The two tensed slightly at what they saw, it was photos of bodies. The bodies looked...disturbingly wrong, they had dark green veins creeping across their skin, converging at different spots. The neck, the wrist, the side of their face. Each of them had wide eyes and open mouths.
"The police have labeled the cause of death as cardiac arrest, but judging on those strange veins on the bodies, it's more likely that a Gifted is at fault here." Elizabeth said with a tired tone as she leaned back in her chair. "It appears that this strange infection is most likely inflicted from injection, based on the injection sights on each body. So this could be a Gift related to poisonous blood. I'm counting on you both to bring this Gifted individual down quickly, and be careful. We don't know what they are capable of."
"It won't be an issue." Kyle said casually as he turned around and waved above his head. Nyx exchanged a look with her mom before she turned around to follow Kyle. As they both left, Elizabeth tapped one finger on the surface of her desk a few times. She was also beginning to notice a change in her daughter's behavior...
And it made her nervous.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kyle and Nyx exited their vehicle that was parked outside a large industrial looking building. Kyle was looking at his phone as he walked around the car to stand next to Nyx. "This is the place." He said in a flat tone as Nyx looked up at the large building.
"Hmm...looks like an old factory." Nyx said quietly before she started walking forward. Kyle raised an eyebrow as he watched her walk away, it was a little unusual that she was suddenly taking the lead like this. Then again, she was stuck spending a lot of time with Soul's asshole brother.
"That's right," Kyle said as he caught up with Nyx and started walking beside her as he slid his phone back into his pocket. "The building itself is pretty old but a lot of people still work here. Well, at least they did before they all started dropping like flies." Kyle said through a yawn as the two entered the building through the small door that led into a hallway. It was empty so far, so they continued inside quietly. Nyx was in the front as Kyle hung behind a few paces. He stared at the back of her head as they walked in silence. Something is definitely off about her. She was usually so talkative, always asking questions or...saying anything. This strange silence was putting Kyle on edge.
After coming to the end of the hall, Nyx opened another door before she halted at the sight of another body. Kyle came up behind her, thankfully he was tall enough to see right over her head. The body was laying on the floor in the middle of the cavernous room on his back. Even at this distance, Nyx and Kyle could tell that the man's eyes were wide open and his mouth was open a bit as well. Nyx and Kyle ran up to the body before Kyle squatted down to get a closer look. They could both clearly see dark green veins crawling from a strange sore on the side of his neck.
"Another victim, huh?" Nyx asked quietly as Kyle flipped open his flip phone and used it to push the corpse's head to turn away from them. When the man's head was turned to the side, a substance that resembled blood began leaking out of his mouth, but it was black. Nyx made a small noise of disgust as Kyle's lip subtly curled to match.
"What the hell is this?" Kyle said quietly as he looked at the corpse. Nothing about this was making sense, based on the strange condition that the body was in it seemed like it was either an extremely strong and volatile poison, or the world's worst disease.
"Oh, sorry about that." A different voice caused the two of them to tense and they both looked to their side. Standing about a dozen feet away from them was a guy, he was tall but thin. He had black hair just past his shoulders with bangs that hung in his face, almost completely covering sickly green eyes. He was holding a syringe in between his first two fingers as they scratched the side of his head. "I meant to have this cleaned up by now." His voice was quiet and slightly raspy, his face suddenly shifted to surprised. "Oh, no way. It's Infinity! You're supposed to be dead, ya know." He spoke casually as he lowered his arm, Kyle stood up so he could glare at the stranger more directly. "You'll have to tell me how you pulled that off." The stranger sounded oddly intrigued, but Nyx could tell it was an act.
Nyx chuckled once softly with a smirk. "Why the hell would you care? Who the hell are you anyway?" She asked confidently as Kyle stepped forward once to stand next to her. He was already sensing the danger.
The stranger smiled again as the syringe in his fingers flipped and he clutched it tightly. "I'm Reiko Suzuki, and I don't really care per say. Azriel will sure as hell care though." Reiko's eyes suddenly turned slightly unhinged before he pulled his arm back, "Unless I kill you now." He said in a soft manic tone before he threw the syringe at Nyx with insane speed. Nyx's face remained blank and her eyes flashed violet before the syringe stopped dead in its tracks the moment it touched her skin. Nyx looked up at the syringe as it floated above her eyes, it was filled with dark green liquid. So that's how he did it.
"Woah, so it's true. Your skin really can't be pierced." Reiko sounded quietly fascinated as Nyx plucked the syringe out of the air and held it for a moment. Kyle glanced over at Nyx, he had a feeling about what she was going to do. He was proven correct as Nyx suddenly whipped the syringe back at Reiko, but he pivoted his body and it soared past him. It collided with the wall behind him and shattered on impact. When Reiko moved his body back to face them again, Reiko's eyes stayed on Nyx for a moment. I know about the girl's Gift, gravity manipulation. She could snap my neck with a flick of her wrist if she wanted to. It likely takes a lot of energy out of her to do that though, so she probably won't unless she has no other choice. Reiko's eyes then drifted to Kyle. This guy is a mystery however...I doubt his Gift is nearly as strong as hers though, and I doubt he'll just allow me to kill the girl. So I'll have to deal with him first.
Reiko smiled darkly before he dashed to the left at insane speed. Kyle's eyes quickly flashed glowing pink and Nyx turned her body to face Reiko as he approached fast. Reiko quickly pulled out a knife as he got close and tried to send that knife into Nyx's face. She quickly held up her hand and stopped the knife dead when it collided with her palm. The cold and calm look in both of their eyes created a thick tension between the two. Reiko then suddenly felt someone grip the wrist of his arm that was clutching the knife. Kyle's hand manifested out from streams of pink digital energy as he uncloaked from his mirage. He was gripping Reiko's wrist tightly before lifting his knee fast, aiming for Reiko's elbow to snap it. Reiko managed to twist his arm in time for Kyle's knee to force Reiko to bend his arm normally, rather than snapping it. During that time, Reiko quickly pulled out a second knife with his free hand and swiped it at Kyle. It was far too fast for him to completely avoid it and it sliced diagonally across Kyle's chest, tearing his shirt and cutting into his skin. Kyle grunted in pain and Nyx's eyes widened in fear, she lifted her leg and sent it into Reiko's stomach, he grunted loudly as he was sent sliding backwards. "Are you okay?" Nyx asked Kyle quietly without taking her eyes off of Reiko.
"I'm fine. It's just a cut." Kyle responded as he held his hand against his wound. He also wasn't taking his eyes off of Reiko.
"Oh, fun." Reiko mused quietly as he flexed his elbow a few times and his eyes drifted to Kyle. "So, your Gift has something to do with cloaking, right?" Reiko asked quietly before he saw Kyle's brow twitch slightly. Reiko tiled his head so subtly that Nyx and Kyle almost didn't notice. "No...that's not it... illusions, am I right?" Reiko asked casually as he lightly tapped his knife against his head a few times. Nyx and Kyle exchanged a look, it wasn't good that he figured it out so quickly.
"It doesn't matter if you figured out my Gift or not, we're not gunna let you continue poisoning people." Kyle growled angrily before he smiled and Reiko saw Nyx begin to fade away into pink energy. Reiko's eyes widened in surprise before he looked to his side just in time to see Nyx, a few feet in the air with her leg pulled back. Her body was encased in the dark violet glow as her foot collided with Reiko and sent him flying to the side. He rolled across the ground before bouncing up and colliding with the wall. He grunted in pain before falling to his knees with his head down, but he was clearly still conscious. Kyle and Nyx quickly moved forward after realizing that Reiko had dropped both of his knives when Nyx kicked him.
They approached him slowly before Kyle held his hand behind him, signaling for Nyx to stay back. She reluctantly listened and Kyle crouched down in front of Reiko. "I bet those broken ribs hurt pretty bad, huh? Honestly, I'm surprised you managed to stay conscious after a hit like that." Kyle said quietly and with subtle arrogance. He then lifted one eyebrow when he heard Reiko beginning to let out a hushed laugh.
"You idiots..." Reiko said softly as he lifted his head slightly, but still not enough to show his eyes. "...I don't feel a thing. That is my Curse..." Reiko lifted his head with a soft and unhinged smile on his face.
"My Curse...is death."
Kyle's breath hitched in his throat and his eyes went wide when he felt sudden pressure against his chest. His eyes then looked down slightly and saw Reiko's palm placed against his chest, the tear in Kyle's shirt allowing Reiko's palm to rest directly onto Kyle's bare skin. Kyle then felt like something equally hot and cold was coiling around his heart and coursing through his lungs. Reiko was then struck on the side of his head by Nyx's fist and he was sent to the side at the blink of an eye. He collided into a pile of large crates with a loud crash, where he stayed, hopefully killed from the impact. Nyx quickly turned around before she inhaled sharply.
Kyle had one hand against the ground, holding himself up while the other hand was clutching his chest. His breathing was wheezy and shallow. "Kyle?!" She uttered in fear before she approached closer.
"No!" Kyle yelled through his pained voice, causing Nyx to stop in her tracks. "We don't know...if it's contagious or not...so stay back..." He choked out before he coughed violently and Nyx saw splatters of the same black sludge fly from Kyle's mouth and splatter onto the ground. "Well that's... probably not good." He choked out again before Kyle fell forward and landed face down on the ground. Nyx tensed again and her fear was kicked into overdrive.
Not him too...
Nyx rushed forward and rolled Kyle over so he was on his back. Her hands started shaking when she saw the green veins creeping across Kyle's skin, originating from his chest where Reiko had touched him. They were...glowing slightly before they slowly faded into the dark green color that had been seen on the other corpses around this factory.
The other...corpses.
Nyx quickly reached down and felt for Kyle's pulse on his neck. Her chest felt tight when she didn't feel one, she quickly pulled out her phone and dialed the one person she hoped she could rely on.
"Nyx?" Nate's voice sounded confused through the phone, he knew that Kyle and Nyx were out on a mission today and he didn't expect her to call him. He was under the impression that she was still pissed at him.
"Tell me how to do CPR." Nyx's voice was shaken and she sounded desperate. Nate's eyes widened in concern as he realized something was incredibly wrong.
"Okay, make sure he's flat on his back, place one hand over his heart and your other hand on top of that hand." Nate spoke calmly and clearly, Nyx followed his directions with her phone being held between her ear and her shoulder. "You wanna push hard enough to force his heart to start pumping again but not too hard that you cave his chest in. Follow the beat to Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees. After a minute or two, pinch his nose and breathe air into his mouth. Repeat that process until he comes to or until we get there, we have to bring him back here to stabilize him. Mia is out today at some blood drive so we have to wait for her to get back. Stay calm, Nyx. He'll be okay." Nate said confidently before he hung up the phone, Nyx let her phone fall off her shoulder and clatter to the ground as she continued to follow Nate's directions. About a minute and a half had passed before Kyle suddenly coughed and sputtered out more black fluid and Nyx quickly took her hands away. Nyx exhaled heavily in relief when he continued breathing, even though it was raspy and labored, he was breathing. He wasn't opening his eyes though, he was still unconscious. Nyx took a few deep breaths before she jolted and remembered the enemy in the room, the enemy who supposedly didn't feel pain. She quickly stood as she whipped around to look at the pile of boxes Reiko had crashed into. Nyx's fists clenched and she growled in violent anger when she didn't see a body. Reiko got away.
I fucked up...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kyle was brought to Sanctuary's Infirmary, where he was laying on Mia's operating table with his shirt off and an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose. Danny had to be the one to help stabilize Kyle since Mia wasn't on campus, and Nerissa was gone. After Kyle was stable, Danny went to his room for the night. Nyx was standing next to the table with her head down. Nate was pacing on the other side of the room in silence for a bit before he stepped forward. "What happened?" Nate asked quietly, but stern. Nyx clenched her fists but didn't lift her head to look at him. She was ashamed, she was so distracted worrying about Kyle that she allowed Reiko to escape.
"It was a Gifted named Reiko Suzuki." Nyx whispered through restrained frustration. Nate tensed at the last name, he recognized it from the owner of the prints that were on the Ace of Hearts card left in the pub Z frequented. "He faked us out with his Gift, he made it seem like he was poisoning people with these syringes he had...but it was a trick to get us to lower our guard. His Gift was activated through touch...although, Reiko called it a Curse." Nyx's voice shook slightly and Nate stepped forward and lifted his hand before he hesitated. He wanted to be there for her, he wanted to help her...but he also didn't want to set her off.
Nate's hand clenched into a fist and he gritted his teeth before calming down with a few cleansing breaths. "Nyx...he's gunna be okay. Mia should be back any minute now and will heal him as good as new." Nate did his best to try and comfort her with words. He didn't want to overstep anything by touching her...
"Reiko..." Nyx uttered softly. "He ended up getting away...he's gunna tell Azriel that I'm alive..." Nyx raised her head and looked at Kyle with an exhausted look. Nate tensed again, there were still so many unknowns surrounding Azriel that the mere mention of his name instilled fear. That fear he was feeling was completely justified.
Because something was brewing, something rivaling the worlds worst natural disaster.
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Danny's eyes suddenly snapped open, but he wasn't in his bed where he had dosed off. He was standing in the middle of an empty city street. Danny immediately recognized this as a street in the city, he also realized this was another dream where he had full control of his body. He looked around for a bit before his gaze landed on a figure down the street from him and he stiffened as he recognized him immediately.
Azriel Enoch. The Ace of Hearts.
Azriel smiled psychotically before Danny started hearing a faint whooshing sound. From behind Azriel, blood red flower petals started to flow out and flutter through the air. Danny watched with wide eyes as more and more petals began to flow from the windows of the surrounding buildings as well. After a moment, the entire street was coated in a large sea of crimson red petals.
Like a sea of blood.
Danny's attention was brought back to Azriel when he heard him giggle. Azriel lifted his head fully and Danny saw his eyes were glowing neon pink. "You can't do anything to stop this, Daniel..." Danny tensed as the tone of Azriel's voice came out dark and unhinged.
"This city...is mine."